Botania is a mod all about flowers, but not in the traditional sense. There are two types of flora (besides the Pure Daisy and Mystical Flowers): functional and generating. The functional flora use Mana to perform a function while the generating flora consume items or other sources to generate Mana. This guide will talk you through Botania until you are equipped to make the Agricarnation.
Before Flowers[]
The very first thing you are going to want to do in Botania is get the 16 different Mystical Flowers. I recommend getting 16 of each type of flower.
Before you start making flowers though, you will need to make a Petal Apothecary. It would also be a good idea to have a decent source of seeds because each recipe in the Petal Apothecary requires one seed.
Another important item for Botania is the Lexica Botania. This is the ultimate in-game documentation and can help you whether or not you use this guide. It's a made with a book and sapling crafted together.
First Flowers[]
One of the important flowers you are going to want to make first is the Pure Daisy. This is made by tossing four Mystical White Petals, which can be made by crafting Mystical White Flowers into a Petal Apothecary filled with Water. Then, throw a seed into the Petal Apothecary to get the Pure Daisy. Plant it somewhere on a Dirt block.
The Pure Daisy can be used to make Livingwood and Livingrock by placing wood Logs and/or Stone respectively around it; it will take one minute for the conversion to happen. I recommend getting 32 of each before moving on just to be safe.
Once this is done, I recommend making a Wand of the Forest. (See Messing with Mana for more information.)
Next, you will need to create your first generational flower, the Daybloom if playing in a version before R.1.9-322. This flower produces Mana with the power of the sun. It is also made in a Petal Apothecary filled with water. It is made with 2 Mystical Yellow Petals, 1 Mystical Light Blue Petal, and 1 Mystical Orange Petal in the Petal Apothecary along with one seed.
If you are playing in version 8.1.9-322 and beyond you could use the Hydroangeas. The Hydroangeas consume water source blocks to generate Mana and are made with 2 Mystical Blue Petals and 2 Mystical Cyan Petals. All petals go into the Petal Apothecary, and again require one seed added as well. You could set up a 3x3 infinite water source for the Hydroangeas to use as their source of water.
With any of these flowers you can start on Mana manipulation. More flowers can be made using the Lexica Botania later in your Mana-making process.
Messing with Mana[]
Mana (Botania) Now that you have a form of Mana generation, you will want to make two things: the Mana Pool and Mana Spreader. These will be used to transport and store your Mana in a useable form. First, place down your Daybloom on dirt (or Hydroangeas by water) where it will have access to the sun. Then, place a Mana Spreader near the flower. Next, place a Mana Pool where your Mana Spreader can see it. Now, click all of these with your Wand of the Forest while it is in Bind Mode. Lastly, take the Wand of the Forest and right-click while pressing sneak (default key "shift") in order to orient the Mana Spreader in the opposite direction. It is easier to remain holding on to these buttons as you move the Mana Spreader. You will want to orient it so it faces the Mana Pool. Now, switch to something other than your Wand of the Forest and every now and then so that a Mana burst will fire off as a green beam.
A nice test for the older versions would be to throw, for example, a Red Mystical Petal into the Mana Pool. If you get back a Red Mana Petal you have succeeded in generating and storing Mana. This does not work in the newer versions as Mana Petals have been removed.
Better Mana Generation (Recommended)[]
Mana (Botania) Mana, as you may already have been able to tell, is slow to produce. You probably will want to get more of it!
If you are playing the older versions and using Dayblooms or you are playing the newer versions and using the Hydroangeas you may have noticed that the flowers wither after 3 Minecraft days. A better flower to use would be the Endoflame as it does not wither and it creates a good amount of Mana. This is made with 2 Mystical Brown Petals, 1 Mystical Light Gray Petal and 1 Mystical Red Petal in the Petal Apothecary.
The Endoflame consumes combustibles such as Coal to generate Mana. The time the flower generates Mana is proportional to the burn time of the combustible so as the burn time increases so does the time the Endoflame generates Mana.
I recommend getting a decent amount of Mana before moving on.
First Functional Flower (Optional)[]
The easiest functional flower to make is the Bellethorne. It will utilize Mana from a nearby Mana Pool or Pools to hurt mobs but not the players around it. For this, you will need a Redstone Root, which is crafted with a Grass and Redstone. In order to create the Bellethorne, throw 1 Redstone Root, 2 Mystical Cyan Petals, and 3 Mystical Red Petals into the Petal Apothecary.
The Runic Altar[]
Runic Altar The Runic Altar is a key component in creating more advanced Botania flora. To obtain it, obtain a Mana Pearl or Mana Diamond made by throwing an Ender Pearl or Diamond respectively in a Mana Pool with sufficient Mana. Now make the Runic Altar like so:
Place this down 1 block away from your Mana Pool. Afterwards, place a Mana Spreader while on the Runic Altar in the space between the two. You can then start crafting with Mana.
The Agricarnation[]
Agricarnation The runes required for this flower require 6 Manasteel Ingots. These are made by throwing Iron Ingots on a Mana Pool. The first rune you will need is the Rune of Water. To obtain the Rune of Water, right-click the Runic Altar with the following materials to place them: 3 Manasteel Ingot, 1 Bone Meal, 1 bundle of Sugar Canes, and 1 Fishing Rod. Then, throw a piece of Livingrock on top of the Runic Altar and right-click it with the Wand of the Forest. Once you see blue lightning coming from the altar, right-click it again with the Wand of the Forest. This is the same process required to craft all runes, with components changing to make different ones.
The next rune needed is the Rune of Fire. It is created using 3 Manasteel Ingot, 1 Gunpowder, 1 Nether Brick, and 1 Nether Wart. The procedure is similar to the one used when creating the Rune of Water.
The last required rune is the Rune of Spring it is created using 1 Rune of Fire, 1 Rune of Water, 1 Wheat, and 3 saplings from any tree. To finally create the Agricarnation one must throw 1 Rune of Spring, 2 Mystical Lime Petals, 1 Mystical Yellow Petal, 1 Lime Mana Petal, 1 Red Mana Petal, and 1 Green Mana Petal into the Petal Apothecary along with one seed.
This concludes the guide. Consult the Lexica Botania for the rest of this mod's content and explore!